About character sets and alternate
glyphs

Typefaces include many characters in addition to the ones you see on your keyboard. Depending on the font, these characters can include ligatures, fractions, swashes, ornaments, ordinals, titling and stylistic alternates, superior and inferior characters, old‑style figures, and lining figures. A glyph is a specific form of a character. For example, in certain fonts, the capital letter A is available in several forms, such as swash and small cap.

There are three ways to insert alternate glyphs:

The Selection in-context menu lets you view and insert glyphs available for a selected character.

The Glyphs panel lets you view and insert glyphs from any typeface.

The OpenType panel lets you set up rules for using glyphs. For example, you can specify that you want to use ligatures, titling characters, and fractions in a given text block. Using the OpenType panel is easier than inserting glyphs one at a time and ensures a more consistent result. However, the panel works only with OpenType fonts.

Replace a character with on-canvas alternate glyphs

Introduced in Illustrator CC 2017 release

When you're working on a type object, you can select a character to quickly view alternate glyphs right next to it in the in-context menu. Simply click the alternate glyph to replace the character with it.

In-context alternate glyphs

Note:

Illustrator displays a maximum of five alternate glyphs for a selected character on the canvas. If more than five alternatives are available, Illustrator displays the icon to the right of the displayed alternate glyphs. Click the icon to open the Glyphs panel and view more alternatives.

Glyphs panel overview

You use the Glyphs panel (Window >
Type > Glyphs) to view the glyphs in a font and insert
specific glyphs in your document.

By default, the Glyphs panel displays all the glyphs for the
currently selected font. You can change the font by selecting a
different font family and style at the bottom of the panel. If any
characters are currently selected in your document, you can display
alternate characters by selecting Alternates For Current Selection from
the Show menu at the top of the panel.

Glyphs panel

A. Show menu B. Font family C. Font style D. Zoom buttons

When you select an OpenType font in the Glyphs panel, you can
restrict the panel to display certain kinds of glyphs by selecting
a category from the Show menu. You can also display a pop‑up menu
of alternate glyphs by clicking the triangle in the lower right
corner of the glyph box where applicable.

Pop‑up menu for alternate glyphs

Insert or replace a character using
the Glyphs panel

To insert a character,
click with a type tool to place the insertion point where you want
to enter the character, and then double-click the character you
want to insert in the Glyphs panel.

To replace
a character, choose Alternates For Current Selection from the Show pop‑up
menu, select a character in your document using a type tool. Double-click
a glyph in the Glyphs panel, if one is available.

Note:

Additional replacement options are available for Asian
glyphs.

OpenType panel overview

You
use the OpenType panel (Window > Type >
OpenType) to specify how you want to apply alternate characters
in OpenType fonts. For example, you can specify that you want to
use standard ligatures in new or existing text.

Keep in mind that OpenType fonts vary greatly in the kinds of
features they offer; not all options in the OpenType panel are available
in every font. You can view the characters in a font using the Glyphs
panel.

Highlight alternate glyphs in the
text

Use ligatures and contextual alternates

Ligatures are typographic replacement
characters for certain letter pairs. Most fonts include ligatures
for standard letter pairs such as fi, fl, ff, ffi, and ffl. In addition,
some fonts include discretionary ligatures for letter pairs such
as ct, st, and ft. Although the characters in ligatures appear to
be joined, they are fully editable and do not cause the spell checker
to flag a word erroneously.

Contextual
alternates are alternate characters included in some script
typefaces to provide better joining behavior. For example, when
using Caflisch Script Pro with contextual alternates enabled, the
letter pair “bl” in the word “bloom” is joined so that it looks
more like handwriting.

Select
the characters or type objects to which you want to apply the setting.
If you don’t select any text, the setting applies to new text you
create.

Click the Discretionary Ligatures button to enable
or disable optional ligatures (if available in the current font).

Click the Contextual Alternates button to enable
or disable contextual alternates (if available in the current font).

Use stylistic sets

A stylistic set is a group of glyph alternates that can be applied to a selected block of text. When you apply a stylistic set, the glyphs defined in the set replace the font’s default glyphs in the selected text. The name of the stylistic set provided by the Font Developer is shown in various places in Illustrator. For some fonts, Illustrator displays the stylistic set names as Set 1, Set 2, and so on. You can apply multiple stylistic sets to a range of text.

Select the text box or the text range to which you want to apply a stylistic set.

Do one of the following:

Choose Window > Type > OpenType to open the OpenType panel. Now, do one of the following:

Click the Stylistic Sets icon () at the bottom of the panel and choose the desired set.

Select Stylistic Sets from the panel menu and choose the desired set.

Apply stylistic sets using the OpenType panel

A. Click the icon at the bottom of the panel B. Choose the desired stylistic set from the panel menu

Choose Type > Glyphs to open the Glyphs panel. Choose a stylistic set from the Show drop-down list in the Glyphs panel.

Apply stylistic sets using the Glyphs panel

Note:

You can remove the stylistic set that you’ve applied to a text range by deselecting it in the OpenType panel or the Glyphs panel.

Add stylistic sets to a character or a paragraph style

Choose Window > Type > Character Styles/ Paragraph Styles to open the Character Styles panel or the Paragraph Styles panel.

Choose the New Character/ Paragraph Style option from the panel menu.

Select the OpenType Features tab on the left of the New Character/ Paragraph Style dialog.

Click and choose the desired stylistic sets from the list.

Add stylistic sets to a character style

Click OK.

Use swashes, titling alternates,
or stylistic alternates

Many OpenType fonts include stylized
characters that let you add decorative elements to type. Swashes
are characters with exaggerated flourishes. Titling alternates are
characters (usually all in capitals) designed for use in large-size settings,
such as titles. Stylistic alternates are stylized characters that
create a purely esthetic effect.

Select the characters or type objects to which
you want to apply the setting. If you don’t select any text, the
setting applies to new text you create.

Make sure that an OpenType font is selected.

In the OpenType panel, do one of the following:

Click the Swash button to enable or disable
swash characters (if available in the current font).

Click the Stylistic Alternates button to enable
or disable stylistic alternates (if available in the current font).

Click the Titling Alternates button to enable or
disable titling alternates (if available in the current font).

Insert symbols, hyphens and dashes, and quotation marks

Introduced in Adobe Illustrator CC 2017

Position the insertion point where you want to insert a character using the Type tool.

Do one of the following:

Choose Type > Insert Special Character

Right click and choose Insert Special Character from the context menu.

Choose one of the following options: Symbols, Hyphens And Dashes, and Quotation Marks.

Choose the desired character from a wide variety of options provided by Illustrator.

Insert white space characters

Introduced in Adobe Illustrator CC 2017

Position the insertion point where you want to insert a white space character using the Type tool.

Do one of the following:

Choose Type > Insert White Space Character

Right click and choose Insert White Space Character from the context menu.

Select one of the following options:

Em Space

The space is equal to the size of the type. For example, in 12‑point type, an em space is 12 points wide.

En Space

The space is half the width of an em space. For example, in 12-point type, an en space is 6 points wide.

Hair Space

The space is one‑twenty‑fourth the width of an em space. For example, in 12-point type, a hair space is 0.5 point wide.

Thin Space

The space is one‑eighth the width of an em space. For example, in 12-point type, a thin space is 1.5 points wide.

Note:

Representative symbols of the white space characters appear when you choose Type > Show Hidden Characters.

Insert a break character

Introduced in Adobe Illustrator CC 2017

You can insert a break character to start a new line without starting a new paragraph.

Position the insertion point where you want to insert the break character using the Type tool.

Do one of the following:

Choose Type > Insert Break Character > Forced Line Break.

Right click and choose Insert Break Character > Forced Line Break.

To remove a break character, choose Type > Show Hidden Characters to see non-printing characters. You can then select and delete the break character.